Keeping Them in Power
by yesimahuman
Summary: Some of the things that the Gods represented died over time, but most of them survived. This is what keeps the Gods in power.


Keeping Them in Power

_Zeus_

The sky is very, very, very, big. As long as there is an earth, there will be a sky, and as long as there is a sky, there's going to be a Lord of the Sky.

And as long as there are Gods, there's going to have to be a King of Gods, right? _Somebody _has to wield the authority- somebody's got to shut the squabbling toddlers up. Among every group of people there is the King- and among the Gods, Zeus happens to be that King. As long as the Gods themselves exists Zeus is going to exist right along with them.

Zeus is going to stick around for a pretty long time.

_Poseidon_

The ocean, like the sky, is also very, very, very, big. And like the sky, as long as there is an earth, there will be an ocean.

And as long as humans have a fascination with water- the elixir of life- Poseidon will always exist. As long as humans use the ocean for their supermarket, their highway, their playground, and their battleground, Poseidon's power will hold strong.

Poseidon's not going any time soon.

_Hades_

There are accidents. Wars break out. Disease strikes mortals down one after another. People starve in poverty-stricken countries. People are murdered by homicidal psychopaths.

This is life, and shit happens.

And shit's never going to _stop _happening.

Hades can sit on his oily throne for the rest of time.

_Hera_

Human beings have a tendency to bond. It's only natural. Heterosexual males have a tendency to bond with heterosexual females. That is also only natural.

Guys get turned on by girls. Guys marry girls. This has gone on since time began.

And because guys get turned on by girls, _plural,_ someone has to curse that cheating womanizer to the depths of Tartarus, right?

As long as guys are unfaithful, Hera can keep her throne.

_Ares_

Me, me, me.

Me, me, me, me, _me, me, __**me, me, ME!**_

_My _land, _my _money, _my _power, _my _throne, _my _swords, _my _guns, _my _army, _my _navy, _my _bombs, _my _arrogance, _my _tyranny, _my _lust, _my _greed!

The torch of civilization burns along with the Gods, and inside the flame, the sparks of War dance.

Ares is not going to leave Olympus as long as that torch keeps burning.

_Apollo_

Human fascination with the sun has not dimmed, though science dissected it with its logic and reason. Humans, until this day, revere the ball of light that hangs in the sky. Humans still look to the east as the beginning, and the west as the end. In art, in literature, in architecture- everywhere, the dominance of the sun prevails.

Music is not going to die anytime soon. Cries of sorrow, calls to arms, and confessions of love- all of these, and more, are embedded in the lyrics of music. What makes humanity _human _is engraved into music's history.

And poetry is just like music, only read, not sung.

The only aspect of Apollo's power that is dead is archery, only practiced in the unseen war between heroes and monsters. Humans do not give a damn about archery anymore.

Still, Apollo's power remains strong.

_Artemis_

Artemis has a few problems.

Archery, as previously explained, is _dead._ The hunt is also _dead. _There is a thing called a supermarket where humans purchase food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Everybody in the heartland of Western Civilization uses it. The Hunt is obsolete.

The moon has always held ten times less respect than the sun. The moon was landed on, the moon had a human flag planted on its surface, and now humans are thinking about colonizing it, and the moment they do (and they will) the moon will lose all of its reverence.

It's a good thing that Artemis has other areas of strength.

Female independence, while not very common, admittedly, has always existed. From the Amazons to Susan B. Anthony, women scorned men and celebrated their own strength. There were always the women who swore that they would never be held down by the shackles of a male.

And these are the very woman who keep Artemis from slipping of off the Olympian thrones.

_Athena_

Ares thrives off of the human lust for power. Athena feeds off of the human lust for _knowledge._

Is it any wonder why they are both deities of war?

At first, the knowledge was used to further violence. How can I make this sword sharper, this arrow faster, this spear longer, and this armor tougher? How can I kill more efficiently?

And then the knowledge took a life of its own. How can I make this building perfect? How can I find the hypotenuse of this right triangle? How can I discover the mysteries of the human mind?

The thirst for knowledge was unstoppable. At first it was _"_How can I?" Then it became "Why does this?" Humanity observed, and then the intelligent _asked._

And so science was born, and through every generation the torch of knowledge was passed. The flame of curiosity, of perseverance, and of intelligence was carried throughout history, and it will _keep _being carried. Maybe half the breakthroughs that science produces are all wrong, but the race towards the light, the _truth, _is never going to die.

Athena is here to stay.

_Hephaestus_

Human knowledge expanded exponentially, and along with that knowledge came the inspiration to invent- to create- to _forge._

Hephaestus lives on with Athena.

_Dionysus_

There is a condition that humans call "hungover."

It has existed since alcoholic beverages were invented.

There is a recreational activity that human perform called "partying."

Surprisingly enough (not) the condition "hungover" usually occurs immediately after "partying."

This has gone on since the beginning of time.

Enough said.

_Demeter_

Demeter's kingdom grows stronger as Artemis' grows weaker. The Hunt symbolized the need to work for food. Agriculture was the exact opposite.

Demeter symbolizes human mastery over its environment- a direct product of Athena's flame of knowledge. Advances in agriculture were brought on by scientific breakthroughs- the plow, the field, the tractor, fertilizer, and on and on and on.

And as Athena's kingdom grew powerful, so did Demeter's.

Demeter's going to be turning her enemies into wheat fields for some time.

_Hermes_

Mankind thinks. Alot. Most of the time, Mankind's thoughts are completely inconsequential. Nobody _cares _what you ate for breakfast, nobody gives a _damn _what song you're listening to.

Well, Mankind, for its part, doesn't care that nobody else cares.

In the olden days, letters carried actual importance- they took time to write, they took time to send, and therefore, people actually _thought _about what they were putting into their writing.

And then Hermes' children invented the Internet, with the intention to speed up this process of communication.

Well, they got what they wanted.

What they _didn't _expect was Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Gmail, on and on and on! The absolutely insignificant thoughts of mankind were now being broadcasted to the _entire world. That _was not good for Hermes' power. His kingdom grew exponentially, but it's quality was shot to hell. Imagine a king who's country quadruples in size, but the new citizens of his land are all complete _idiots._

The part of communication that kept Hermes in power- the intelligent kind- letters giving thanks, correspondence exchanging thoughts on science, on the universe, and on life, that email bringing two long lost friends back together- all of this has been drowned in the new torrent of absolute _shit._ Look at me play basketball! Look at me lose weight! See what I'm eating for breakfast! Read my mediocre story! Quality control was a thing of the past.

It's a good thing Hermes is also God of Thieves, because communication is all but a lifeless corpse now.

_Aphrodite_

It's a thing called hormones, okay?

Review, Please. Down there. You know that I know that you know you can see it.


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